How to apply for an RCA Scholarship

For a full list of available scholarships, visit RCA scholarships.

There are two routes to obtaining a scholarship to study at the RCA:

• Academic merit
• Financial need or being part of an under-represented group in higher education

A number of scholarships will be awarded to high-scoring students on the basis of academic merit.

Round 1 and Round 2 applications for all MA programmes, MArch, MFA, MDes, MRes & MEd will be automatically assessed for one of these scholarships, and if you are successful you will be told about this at the same time as receiving your RCA programme offer.

These scholarships will be available in the earlier rounds of applications, so the earlier you apply the more chance you have of receiving a scholarship.

Receiving this type of scholarship does not stop you from applying for other scholarships in spring 2025, which might be linked to your financial circumstances or being part of an under-represented group in higher education.

Step 1: Apply for your place at the RCA

Applications for these types of scholarships will open in Spring 2025, and will be open to everyone who has applied and been offered a place as part of Round 1 and Round 2, or as a deferred 24/25 applicant.

Step 2: Complete a scholarship application

Round 1 and Round 2 offer holders and deferred 24/25 offer holders for all MA programmes, MArch, MFA, MDes, MRes, MEd & MPhil will be invited to complete a scholarship application, asking for more information about you and your circumstances. Applicants will then be marked against the criteria for the different scholarships that are available and matched to a scholarship based on their score.

Round 1 and 2 offer holders and deferred 24/25 offer holders for MA, MFA, MDes, MRes, MArch, MEd and MPhil will be invited in Spring 2025 to answer the following scholarship application questions:

Section 1: Priority eligibility 

• Have you received means-tested student funding or scholarship support in another higher education institution?  Evidence could include your Student Finance or scholarship confirmation.
• Have you received any means-tested government benefits in the last five years? Evidence could include confirmation of benefits payments, a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions, or a similar government document.
• Have you experienced unavoidable financial hardship? Evidence could include bankruptcy paperwork, bank or credit card statements or credit/loan agreements (Note: there is also flexibility here for applicants from outside the UK to provide evidence related to their home country's economic and political climate).
• Do you have a disability or chronic health condition that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to do daily activities? Evidence could include a medical or diagnostic report or another official document that explains the nature of your disability or health condition.
• Do you currently have or have you ever had refugee or asylum status? Evidence could include a copy of your Application Registration Card (ARC) or permission to stay documentation.
• Do you consider yourself care experienced?  Evidence could include social care or local authority documentation.
• Do you have primary caring responsibilities for a dependent or another family member?  Evidence could include a Child Benefit Letter, Tax Credits, or another official document that evidences your situation.
• Do you consider this a career change, or are you returning to work after a career break / parental leave?  Evidence could include a CV, resignation letter, reference or another document that evidences your situation.

Please note that if you select 'no' for all of the Eligibility Check criteria, you can still submit a short supporting statement outlining why you should be considered for scholarship opportunities despite failing to meet the above criteria.

Section 2: Personal statement questions

• Outline a summary of your background and financial need (150 words)
• Outline what steps you are taking to plan and prepare financially for study at RCA (150 words)
• Outline how you would benefit from a scholarship at RCA in the context of your current circumstances (150 words)
• Outline your future career goals and what you see as the positive outcome of receiving a scholarship beyond your studies at RCA (150 words).

The RCA's definition of disadvantage may help you to compose your answer to the first personal statement question:

• experience of discrimination or disadvantage based on ethnicity or other protected characteristics
• refugee or asylum status
• type of school and education opportunities experienced
• growing up in social housing
• caring responsibilities
• having experience of being in care
• social class
• parental or carer occupational background and educational attainment
• receipt of state benefits or experience of unemployment (either yourself, or parent, or carer)
• lack of access to professional and supportive networks
• receipt of means-tested, state-assisted undergraduate funding.

If you are a PhD applicant, queries about Doctoral Training Grants should be directed to studentships@rca.ac.uk and further information about PGR funding and doctoral loans can be found Funding for MPhil and PhD students.

Scholarships are awarded for a specific programme and entry year and cannot be deferred without consent from the academic programme and scholarships panel.

• Scholarship amounts and restrictions will vary across individual awards.
• No correspondence will be entered into regarding scholarship outcomes, and no appeal is allowed.
• The RCA may terminate the scholarship if:
  a) your performance assessment fails to meet the standards as outlined in the RCA Regulations
  b) you fail to comply with any of the terms as set out in the RCA Terms & Conditions and the RCA reasonably considers that you have committed an act that may prejudice or damage the reputation of the RCA.